Broken Mirrors
by Winter Zephyr
Summary: Kagami sees Sakura in a different light and all the conclusions from his first impression of her are smashed to pieces. SakuraKagami. Rating for some language and dirty thoughts. AU, animebased.
1. A New Light

Disclaimer: I don't own GetBackers, don't sue! I don't have enough money to hire a lawyer. Also, I would love to pretend I came up with the idea of a Sakura and Kagami pairing, but I admit I was inspired by an entry called 'Seen and Unseen', if I'm not mistaken, written by incandescens, to whom I bow reverently. If you haven't read it, you should check it out. I doubt you'll regret it unless you're into slash.

_Where did he go?_

The silent question hangs in the air even after he's gone. He can see it in their eyes, their astonished faces, as he vanishes from their sight, something that looks like anger in Midou Ban's eyes that this is one nemesis he won't get to see torn apart by the pain he has inflicted. He smirks. It's nice to know that no matter how badly they beat him, they would not get the satisfaction of seeing him fall to the ground and scream in agony.

_Nobody wins over Kagami Kyoji. _A dull but annoyingly present ache where Kudo Himiko's anatomy had connected with his and not in a manner meant for male enjoyment. Wince._ At least not completely_, he adds silently.

They say that in Mugenjyou, wounds heal extremely fast. Kagami is still waiting for some evidence of that.

_Reminder to self: complain about time required to heal on next trip back to Babylon City._

As a matter of fact, his condition seems to be going from bad to worse. First Jackal, then the Kudo-Midou tag-team…not exactly a combination in favour of one's physical health. Kagami lets out the breath he was unconsciously holding, alone for the moment in one of the many corridors in Lower Town, a place akin to something like a high-tech playground for his people. There is no one around to see his proud posture collapse, to see him hunch over and gingerly feel the arm he knows is badly bruised from a relentless Snake Bite, unbroken only because the blow to his head knocked him out of that vice-like grip. There are no prying eyes to ogle at him while he touches a sore spot on his head where a bruise is surely forming. There is no one to watch as he unbuttons the purple, collared shirt he is wearing and checks on his hastily bandaged torso. The blood is still flowing from the holes in his body, courtesy of Akabane Kuroudo's scalpels. If he doesn't do something about it, he'll have to get a new coat.

_Probably should have worn black. At least I wouldn't have to worry about stains._ Then again, he would look like a Dr. Jackal wannabe. And why would he want to be Akabane Kuroudo when he could be Kagami Kyoji? It would be an utter waste of time, although observing everyone else's reactions would probably be very amusing. With the exception of Kakei Juubei, who probably wouldn't notice anything anyway.

"Kagami-san?"

The blond looks up sharply, instinctively covering the bloodstained bandages with his shirt. You don't go walking around with Mugenjyou showing that you are wounded. To be wounded means that someone has beaten you in a fight; if someone has beaten you in a fight, it follows that others can beat you too. And in Mugenjyou, you don't want people to think that. Not unless you have a desire to be beaten into a bloody pulp and left for dead.

"How did you know I was here?" Hint of anger in his voice–anger at himself, mainly, for being seen when he doesn't want to be seen and not realizing that he had been spotted, but he doesn't see why he should allow her the satisfaction of knowing that. Still, to be angry is to be out of control, and to be out of control is to be weak. The man of mystery from Babylon City might be powerful, might be somewhat full of himself, might be handsome, might be extremely hard to read–anything but weak. Somehow, even though it hurts to even move thanks to a certain hakobiya, Kagami straightens up, leaning against the wall in a casual attitude with his trademark enigmatic smile and his hands in his pockets. He doesn't bother to hide the once-white bandage under his shirt from her. She isn't strong enough to challenge him, and anyway she would never dare. She was a servant, and he was probably a feudal lord in that same hierarchy. A smirk settled on his lips at that thought. "Of course. You were watching. Did Makubex tell you to come?"

It's not a question he needs to ask. He has weighed Kakei Sakura in his mind before this, and he sees nothing worthy of his interest. She is as submissive as Kudo Himiko is stubborn, as loyal to her master as the latter is fiercely independent. She never speaks unless spoken to. She never does anything she is not expected or told to do. She was a young woman in her twenties taking orders from a kid whose voice had barely cracked, for crying out loud! She had no real role in Makubex's organization except as an extra pair of eyes to watch the screens that show everything going on in their territory, unless that foxy genius is sleeping with her. Although she appears to have been brought up in a family in with tradition and old practices, as her brother is evidence of, Kagami can see her spreading her legs without protest because her master told her to. As he gazes at the young woman, who is admittedly very easy on the eyes, that vision grows increasingly graphic and he has to bite his bottom lip to stop his smirk from growing wider. But back to his original point…

Kakei Sakura is not the type that thinks for herself. She puts all her faith in one person, and that lucky bastard gets a free slave for life that can fight (more or less) and is exceptionally pretty too. In other words, Kagami expected a quiet 'yes' from the cloth mistress. The only reason he asked was to avoid an awkward silence. Oh, Sakura was probably clever enough in her own way, since she could use the Kakei Cloth Technique and help Makubex with his computers, but somehow she didn't seem like the type he could count on for intellectually stimulating conversation.

"No."

_What?_

His silence speaks volumes. She sees the surprise in his eyes and realizes that that was not what he had expected her to say. Calculating almost as quickly as Makubex in her head, she reaches the very plausible conclusion that he sees her as a mindless servant in about two seconds. A little more coolly than before, she continues. "I saw you reappear here on one of the monitors. And despite all the posture you affect, it was obvious that you were hurt."

_Not as much as this hurts_, some part of him cries at the sly dig at his ego.

"So I came here." A steely look in normally soft, downward-gazing brown eyes. Probably saved just for him, he thought sarcastically. Somehow, he had expected this. It was likely that anyone else, say Kudo Himiko, would have exploded in wrath if they had realized what she had realized, but even so Kagami had somehow expected this coldness on her part. No raging fires or violent threats, just stiff words that somehow managed to remain polite despite the sarcasm dripping from them and cold, low-burning embers of anger. The Kakei clan certainly did know how to bring their children up. The icy, controlled gaze that was almost but not quite a plain glare seemed to add silently, _On my own accord. Without instructions. Without orders. _And, let's not forget to follow that up with,_ Bastard._

"Come with me," Sakura says, walking ahead of him with her head held up with dignity, not high with pride, and her back straight with strength, not arched with an innate desire to show off her cup size. Her movements were graceful and smooth, commanding respect but causing no fear. _The posture of a lady_, Kagami thinks lazily. Maybe she was just doing that to show him how wrong he was about her. Or maybe his first impression and quick dismissal of her had clouded his vision so much that he had not bothered to notice before. Kagami follows, idly wondering what her reaction would be if she realized that he was looking at her shapely derriere and the seductive sway of her hips as she led him so that he can distract himself from other thoughts that were just as, if not more interesting but required more effort. Absent-mindedly he removes the white jacket of his suit, some part of his mind reminding him that it was going to be hell getting bloodstains out if he didn't. Combine ogling with the pain he's going through, all his injuries aggravated by the brisk movement, and it actually is a pretty damn good distraction. Though, with his usual smirk, he readily admits that he probably deserves all that suffering for what he's thinking as all that testosterone in his body starts acting up.

_If Makubex hasn't started having wet dreams about her, he's probably impotent._ Nothing dangerous, that. Just a random, irreverent thought. But if she heard it, what she would do to him (or try to) would probably be very interesting. And, horny little bastard that he was, he'd probably enjoy it.

Kagami blinks, reminds himself that he is here for a reason, that he is a professional from head to toe, even if his gonads aren't acting like it for the moment. He walks a little faster to catch up with her so that he draws level with her and can't enact any dirty fantasies while looking at her ass. The pain of the movement is probably worth it. He flinches a little as he feels the bloodstains growing bigger, spreading to his shirt from the bandage.

"We're almost there," she says in a voice that he does not even dare think of as soothing. She is looking at him, no ice in her eyes for the moment, noticing how it hurts him to walk so quickly, and this time he doesn't need to remind himself to look only at her face. Perhaps he was wrong in dismissing her so quickly. Somehow, in spite of his very offensive opinion of her and her anger, she had managed to drag up concern from the depths of her soul for him, someone who had no use for her, who almost despised her for the stereotypes she represented in his mind. This surprises him, and as corny as it sounds, Kagami loves surprises.

They arrive at a corridor that opens to the rooms of Makubex's nearest and dearest helpers and followers. Sakura unlocks the door to hers and lets him in. He thankfully collapses onto a decrepit, almost rotten rattan chair that creaks under his weight but somehow does not give way, though the promise of him getting dumped onto the floor hangs in the air. Deciding that he would rather move to a more stable chair than find himself in such an undignified position, he switches to a sturdy wooden chair. By that time, she's standing next to him, everything she needs to clean him up in the tray she's carrying while he is hunched over in silent pain, his hands gripping his knees so hard that they're starting to hurt too. Sakura puts the tray on the table and slides the shirt off his shoulders, something that gives rise to even more terrible thoughts despite her obviously professional reasons for doing so. She feels the involuntary tremble in his arms, however slight, and her hands shake just a little against her will as if in response. She does not look at him as she unwraps the strip of cloth he had hurriedly bound himself with before going to have a face-off with the intriguing hakobiya and grimaces at the aftermath of his confrontation with the deadly one. She cleans the wounds on his back first, not wanting to stir him from his current position or make anything else hurt more than it already does. When she finishes applying some medicine, she covers the gaping wounds with gauze and tapes them in place, the best she can do in so short a time. He straightens up again, and she kneels in front of him to treat that wound too. He toys with the idea of telling her she's doing things to him by being in that position while he's half-naked, but some part of him doesn't want to make her angry anymore. Some part of him wants this silence that isn't really tense and emotionally charged but isn't exactly uncomfortable and awkward either. Some part of him wants this silence that he can't really classify to stretch longer, so he can…

So he can what? Something is telling him it's so he can savour it, store what seems like a stolen moment of peace and contentment and God knows what else that he doesn't deserve away in a little box in a corner of his mind, to take out at a later date when he was alone and reflect, rethink, _relive_. Every other voice in his head is trying to drown out that almost terrifyingly loud one by insisting that it's so he can have more time to identify it for what it was, mark it down and file it away in a cabinet named 'Knowledge' that was stored in his brain along with 'Interesting Observations', 'People', 'Dirty Thoughts', etc.

This clamour, this uprising of different voices is not something Kagami is used to. To him, it's as good as a panic attack. _I need to get out of here_. At least until everything stops being so damn complicated. He takes the chance of looking at her, right into her eyes, and when she meets his gaze and he nearly goes into cardiac arrest because of the delicate, almost unnoticeable blush on her face, he instantly decides it was damn well worth it. Is this what chemistry is, minus the colourful liquids and lab technicians? It sizzles and burns and tastes like a rainbow, as far as anything can get from the cool, emotionless calm Kagami usually surrounds himself in. But whatever the hell it is, the fact that he feels like he could really enjoy it scares him almost more than anything else can.

Sakura is done bandaging his torso, doing a much more efficient and effective job than he had. Her nimble hands and quick eyes trail all over his upper body in the most professional sense of the word, checking for other wounds. He gestures towards his arm because her fingers are making the uproar in his usually cool mind worse. He hears a sharp intake of breath on her part when she sees the ugly purple and blue marks.

"It's not broken," he assures her. Then again, why should that statement assure her? Because he wanted it to? He looks away. Now is not the time to be distracted by other things, particularly women. But when she says softly, "Good," and his pulse accelerates at that one word, he knows it's too late for cautionary thoughts and preventive measures. When she finishes with his arm and sweeps his locks back from his forehead to dab ointment on the bruise there, her warm breath tickling his cheek, he knows he's too far gone for angry superiors or ruined reputations to give him pause. He knows that no matter what happens next, he'll never regret this moment and he'll never apologize for feeling that way.

Despite the few words exchanged, the silence returns as if it had never gone, and he is back in the moment that feels so right that it must be wrong, and she's in it with him. It's a thought that intoxicates him and brings his mind to places that he had never been before and causes new passions and desires he never thought he could have to flare up. The analytic side of Kagami is telling him that he just wants to fuck her and this is all the result of an adrenaline rush. The rest of him is worried that this might be a lot more than that, no matter how fast or illogical or stupid it seems. Because no matter what the gods of Babylon City calculate and study and know, emotions are too fluid and too unique to each individual to capture and dissect for a general understanding of them. Feelings are too unstable and too volatile for measurement and comparison, no matter how tightly controlled the test subjects are. No matter how much you have studied, you still never can predict exactly how someone is going to feel and how they are going to act based on that feeling. That is why Babylon City obsessively watches Lower Town. That is why the inhabitants of Raitei's former kingdom go through every situation imaginable. That is why all the scientists and doctors and damn near everyone in Babylon City eagerly observe the people down here like the last instalment of a reality show. Possibly, that is why Mugenjyou exists.

_And that is why the man from Babylon City does not know what is going on in his own head_, Kagami realized with a sigh that never left his lips. _He has no memorized stores of data from lab reports to check for similar symptoms. He has no litmus test to tell what is making him act this way. He has nothing. He is, no matter how much he hates to admit it, in unfamiliar territory and utterly and totally lost_. And that itself is something that disturbs Kagami deeply.

The man from Babylon City is lost.

"That's all," Sakura's soft voice breaks into his mental turmoil. She isn't cold or icy anymore, but pliant and flexible like her weapon. In other words, she had hidden the dignified lady with a servant girl's garments and become what he had dismissed earlier as a mindless slave again. "Unless you want me to bandage your head."

Fortunately, despite the pathetic, hormonally charged fool she's made out of him, some of Kagami remains intact. The idea of walking around with his head swathed in bandages makes him remember things like pride and vanity and other things that he was until he let himself be blown away by that one stolen moment. It's enough to make him refuse vehemently.

Sakura goes away to dispose of the bloodied strips of cloth and used cotton. She has her back to him as she begins to wash her hands. He knows this is deliberate, so that he can leave without a word if he wants to because she does not expect him to stick around now that he's good to go, and she knows that he knows, but they both play the polite game of balancing delicate egos and Lower Town courtesy well enough to pretend that they're blissfully unaware of each other's thoughts. Kagami does start to leave, picking up his shirt with dried blood on it and his white jacket, but instead of going out the door pronto he finds himself putting his clothes back on while she dries her hands. She is too well mannered to show any surprise she might have felt when she turns and sees him there, adjusting his jacket. Without a word, they begin to walk towards the base where Makubex normally is. This time, however, the room is empty and only the screens are alive, flicking from scene to scene to reveal all that was happening in Lower Town. Makubex was still with Akabane, then.

Sakura takes her place in front of the monitors, picking up the earpiece and attaching it to her head as she settles down. She does not look at him. He knows the ball is on his side of the court and she isn't going to say anything unless he does. He knows he should apologize for offending her, but somehow he can't bring himself to say that. Not yet. He struggles to cling to everything he was before the lady that she showed herself to be and that stolen moment smashed it to pieces, and the easiest shard to reach for is pride. It's like hanging on to blades of grass while hanging off a cliff. Futile as it is, you do it anyway because then you can pretend for just a little longer that you're going to make it and the fall is never going to happen. And yet, in the same way that gravity summons you downwards, something gnaws at him to say sorry.

Her gaze flits almost involuntarily from a monitor to him as she takes in the fact that he is still there. It turns him into a pre-pubescent kid confronted with the girl he's too young to have wet dreams about but is getting there anyway, racing pulse and all. He can't stand the way he's not in control of himself, but on the other hand he doesn't really care right now as long as she keeps looking at him with that beautiful quizzical expression on her face.

"Thank you."

It's not quite what he is supposed to say, but the nagging feeling dies down to some extent. He almost manages to convince himself that now that the patient has thanked the doctor, the patient will go on his way and that moment between them forged in blood and bandages is gone, along with everything that came with it, never to return. But when she smiles at him for the first time in response, hearing the apology that he never spoke and accepting it, Kagami is almost terrified that there is actually a chance that this moment is going to last much longer than any Babylon City formula can predict it to. He can't even begin to imagine all the repercussions and consequences that this feeling bubbling up in him could bring. He breaks out in cold sweat at the thought of all the rules and the sombre faces of his superiors as they told him what happened to people who broke those rules before he came down to Lower Town. The first sensations of panic begin to appear now that the foggy mirror he's been looking through begins to clear again and what he has been seeing all along hits him in the face with its enormity.

But strangely enough, there is an oasis of calm in him that remains untouched by the frenzy the rest of him is going into, and he knows, as he had earlier, that it's too late for all that to stop him. It's too late to make himself wish that moment had never happened. And at the sound of her voice when she says, "You're welcome," everything he feels simply confirms that.

A/N: Gosh, it's so hard to keep Kagami in character! I really hope I haven't butchered him up and made mincemeat out of his character in this fic. I had problems trying to keep both of them in character, and even then I'm not sure I succeeded. This story is set during the IL Retrieval arc after Himiko and Ban defeat Kagami and based on the anime. I know that Kagami started, um, stalking Himiko later, but I couldn't find anywhere to fit that angle in. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story which I may continue. Reviews welcome.


	2. Peace in Turmoil

Disclaimer: Don't own GB, please don't sue!

He avoids her for a while after Makubex changes his mind about the IL. He seeks the rooftops to be alone, as if being nearer the place of his origin will help him sift through his conflicting thoughts and almost frighteningly intense emotions with a cold and analytical manner. It doesn't.

This frustrates Kagami, and because he doesn't know what to take it out on he directs his anger at her. If she had just minded her own business and stayed by the monitors like she was supposed to do, none of this would have happened. If she could have resisted the impulse to humble him by showing him how wrong he was about her, he would never have his mind inflamed by memories of her breath on his cheek, of her smile when he thanked her, of everything that had happened in that stolen moment. If she had just slapped him for being an asshole instead of helping him anyway, he would have forgotten all of this by now. In other words, he doesn't know who is to blame or if there is any blame, so he takes the easiest route by blaming her.

It's easy to do, to direct curses her way in his head and pretend that nothing has changed since he saw her in a new light. It's definitely easier than admitting that she has brought him into unknown territory and admitting that there is a possibility he could actually like being here. It's easier to ignore the sparks that went off in his very cells when she touched his face than to try to explore it.

Standing on a roof where he can see without being seen, Kagami watches the Retrieval team leaving Mugenjyou after mending ties with old friends and making new ones with recent acquaintances. An outcome that he had considered, but had not thought likely. It seems like nothing turns out the way he expects it to anymore, and it's easy to blame her for his resulting annoyance rather than wonder if his people in Babylon City are trying to irritate him with irony. After all, he couldn't even measure one of Makubex's weakest subordinates accurately, so why the hell should he have the nerve to believe any of his other conclusions should be? He likes surprises, but not when they keep coming in rapid succession.

_I need a break from this_. Weariness, fatigue, not enough rest from his job, that's the cause of this departure from the norm. Kagami tells himself that he isn't himself because he's too tired to be, steadfastly ignoring the part of him that knows that is bullshit and that it sounds like it too. He wants to get away from here so that he can rebuild himself and come back as complete and indestructible as he had been before, with that familiar aura of cool serenity instead of this annoyingly enjoyable jumpiness that comes into play whenever he sees a camera and knows that she is watching him at that exact moment.

_Funny how being wrong sends me to pieces. I must have a bigger ego than I thought._

Kagami doesn't have to give Makubex any explanation for the disappearance he is about to effect, so he heads in the direction of those that he does. Sauntering through the streets of Lower Town without condescending to even glance at what he regards as lesser beings, Kagami reaches the entrance to the Belt Line, a place even Raitei never went to. Kagami pushes open the door without hesitation.

He gets through the Belt Line unmolested, its residents knowing better than to attack someone who is death in a white suit. After all, news of his defeat by a teenage girl hasn't filtered through to this damned place yet. They still have reason to fear him. And if they forget it when they do hear about it, he will gladly remind them of that reason. As it is, he steps into Babylon City without breaking a sweat and climbs the steps to the cold, sterile white corridors, the familiar hum of machinery and low, neutral voices reaching his ears. It is a little depressing when you think about the barrenness, frigidness of this place, which is so clean it looks like it's never seen any human usage or had life passing through its halls, but this was home to him. Kagami finally reaches the right door, which hisses open automatically to admit him into an even colder futuristic, fibreglass-and-plastic office manned by a woman whose face is so flawless and proportionate that she doesn't seem real. Add that to her almost unnaturally perfect figure and hair that never has one strand out of place, and you would get a physical form most women would hate because they can't have it. Up in Babylon City, it's the norm. He gives the reason for his departure as wanting to observe an interesting specimen who has unfortunately gone beyond the limits of Mugenjyou, and since he is the star child of his generation and the poster boy of Babylon City he is granted permission. He flashes an easy, flirtatious smile at the woman who looks as unreal as him and turns to leave, the sea inside calming and raging at the same time at the knowledge that he is free to go.

"Kagami…" A voice like red wine makes him turn around before he reaches the door. He hadn't sensed anyone else in the office besides the woman, but disembodied voices and people that pop up out of nowhere are the norm in this place. Kagami faces his superior and mentor, a middle-aged man who still looks like a force to reckon with despite his long, grey-streaked hair and drooping eyelids. This is the man who has taught him everything he knows, and in some way that makes Kagami fear him as there is nothing he knows that the older man does not. He struggles to hide all the tension inside him when he looks into the eyes of a man whom he knows by no name other than 'Sensei'. His mentor has the eyes of a hawk, the eyes that look like they can see everything. And Kagami does not want his soul laid bare before him. Not now.

"Yes, sensei?" Maybe if he keeps his expression unworried and his voice cool, with a vague hint of curiosity, it will hide his apprehension that the sensei will see all the turmoil swirling around in his mind and, if he could bring himself to use the word, heart.

_And maybe Makubex doesn't know how to use Microsoft Word._

"There isn't any other reason, is there?" It doesn't sound accusatory or suspicious at all, and yet it still makes Kagami's chest tighten. _He suspects._ The sensei's all-seeing eyes, clear as diamonds and about as sharp, bore into Kagami's. He struggles to not gulp or blink too much in case that gives him away. An aura of incalculable depth and perception surrounds the sensei at all times, and while it is usually assuring because it confirms Kagami's belief that his people are wiser and more powerful than any other in the world, now it sparks off an icy fear that starts in his gut and works its way up to his throat because he has no way of knowing or anticipating what his mentor is going to say or do next. There is an almost irresistible urge to make a surprise attack and then flee while the victim is still in shock, but he knows that if he gives in to it he as good as signs his death warrant. So, he feigns mild surprise, the type that you give voice to but don't bother to follow up with curiosity because it isn't worth all that energy.

"Why would there be?" With a smart-ass smirk and a flippant 'Ja ne!' Kagami turns once more, not wanting to stick around and wait for the situation to get even more dangerous than it already is. But even as he leaves as fast as he can without arousing suspicion, his mentor's laugh still reaches his ears. Usually, when the sensei laughs, Kagami knows why and laughs too. This time, it makes every ounce of instinct he has urge him to run and he barely stops himself.

"That's good, Kyoji-kun," the sensei says, his voice not loud but somehow still reaching Kagami's ears with astounding clarity, considering the way his heart was pounding in them too. His tone, no matter how casual he makes it, still carries a sinister undercurrent that gives off an indistinctive threat that chills the blood nevertheless. "I wouldn't want my star pupil to disappoint me. You are, after all, the perfection that we have been striving to create for years. Keep yourself that way, won't you?"

_Believe me, I'm trying_, Kagami thinks with a bitter laugh that he can't let out in case he gives the voyeurs of Babylon City even more about him to study, dissect and discuss until the cows come home.

This time, he deliberately picks a fight instead of passing through the Belt Line serenely with that insolent smirk fixed on his face like he usually does. He enrages them with his arrogance and insufferable pride, and when they get angry enough to overcome their innate fear of him he lets go, more so than he will ever be allowed to in Lower Town. Shards of glass rip through their flesh, as vulnerable as his and yet not seeming that way right now, and he brings down hordes with the deadly dust he sprinkles with ease like a deadly drizzle. A rain of silver mirror slivers falls onto those that try to run from him and slices them almost as finely as the scalpels of the Jackal can. He stands over their dying bodies and gloats at his prowess, but somehow this cheap victory doesn't bring him the assurance he thought it would. His ego, so badly shattered by his inability to do anything right anymore and bruised by the fact that he was actually _afraid_ of the sensei, tries to take this win to feed itself up again, but its taste is bitter in his mouth. Killing frightened lesser beings is nothing to be proud of, and the fact that he did it just to make himself feel better even less so.

Kagami is disgusted with himself. _You don't become great by stepping on the heads of those below you. _Pretending that's not true is only a further sign that he really is not himself anymore.

_This is all her fault_.

Kagami walks out of Mugenjyou without looking back. He doesn't want to, just in case a camera catches him and she sees all the uncertainty in his eyes. Damn Kakei Sakura for turning him into the mess he is now. Forget the noblewoman in the servant girl's rags. On to Kudo Himiko, from whom he can expect annoyance and fury and strength stemming from sheer determination, but not another lady who will have that devastating effect on him that all real ladies seem to have.

As he strolls with the effortless grace of a Babylon City prince in the streets of Shinjuku and breathes air that for once is not thick with the gazes of those who are always watching, Kagami chooses to think about Himiko. She commands his interest, not the fireworks in his ribcage, and brings the analytical, scientific side of him to the fore instead of the mushy cheesecake he's just realized he can be. He wants to study her and her obvious connection to Midou Ban, to observe her and find out for himself what is it that makes her so damn stubborn that she won't just bloody give up and die. It's a trait that he respects, and that makes him want to watch her all the more. That is why he is out here. It is absolutely not because he wants to forget about Saku–

_I thought you weren't going to think about her anymore_, a snide thought slips in unbidden. This makes Kagami snap, angers him again, and he turns and looks at the dark shape of Infinity Castle looming in the sky. He directs a wrathful frown in that direction because he knows she is there, silently watching the progress of Lower Town like an angel monitoring earth. _Damn you_.

No more looking back, he decides. No more thinking about that stolen moment in her room. No more remembering the sinfully delicious shiver that he knew was not born of lust running through him as she slipped his stained shirt off him. No more imagining the beauty of that second when he looked her in the eyes and was rewarded by the faint colour in her usually pale face at night when he looks at the stars. No more savouring the memory of her breath on his cheek. He gives full attention to the study he is carrying out as if that can block out the first smile she had given him, because it's easier to pretend she doesn't exist when she's at the back of his mind rather than dominating all of it.

Sure enough, Himiko and her posse of friends eventually realize that he is following her around. It makes her furious, and a part of him breathes a sigh of relief that he can still find cold, sterile amusement in her anger because that means he is coming together at last, that the shards of glass are finally drawing back to make a perfect picture. He always watches, through a window or from a rooftop, and it becomes an easy ritual to slip into. It's not hard to become fond of her, this one. He regards her with as much affection as a zoologist would a lioness that he has watched from birth to adulthood for being so interesting and yet not dangerous to him in the unconventional sense, as someone that he did not want to remember was. When by chance he ends up in one Jagan master's company, the conversation inevitably turns to Kagami's appearance outside Mugenjyou. He senses all of Midou Ban's protective instincts flaring up like an invisible, ferocious aura and allows himself a little smile that he does not bother to hide from the other man.

"Why are you following her?" Sharp blue eyes, steadfastly hiding the secret worry for her even as the tenseness of his neck muscles betray it, stare into Kagami's as if they could burn him with their gaze. Midou Ban has intimidating eyes, but to someone who has been under the tutelage of the sensei since childhood their effect is somewhat lessened.

Kagami turns to face him and grins, as if he has some private joke to laugh about. Ban's anger only makes Kagami's smile widen, and he says in a voice so sappy that he nearly gags with laughter before he's done speaking, "I'm in love with her, of course."

The look on the self-acclaimed invincible Midou Ban-sama's face is priceless. Unfortunately, it gives rise to alarm and sympathy (something that he wasn't sure if he should find offensive or amusing) for Himiko among her friends, and soon enough the good doctor finds him and personally transports him to the entrance of Mugenjyou with a polite reminder to avoid further stalking activities under pain of dismemberment and mutilation as well as having a J carved into his body once the Jackal tires of his screams. Kagami had suggested that he continue on the condition that he would not let himself be seen and was convinced to not pursue that point by several well-flicked scalpels. Who would have thought that Akabane Kuroudo could be so concerned about the mental health and sanity of a co-worker? Kagami laughs, even though his body doesn't quite agree with Jackal's methods of persuasion.

The dark shape of Mugenjyou looms up in front of him, lit up by the few places where the electric lights inside could shine at the world outside. He wonders if Babylon City has made preparations for their prince's return. It is very vain of him to even think of it, but the fact that he is sounding arrogant and very much like himself before is comforting. He does not need to walk all the way up to Mugenjyou's highest levels to report his return because they will know their star pupil has come back from exile once he steps into Lower Town. Babylon City has eyes and ears everywhere, and that is only one reason why Kagami secretly refers to the sensei as the all-seeing one.

Kagami deliberately stops in front of one of Makubex's hidden cameras and smirks impudently, waving once and then continuing on his way. He does it to show he is not afraid anymore, to show he is Kagami Kyoji, Babylon City's dream of perfection realised, once again. He does it to show himself that he can, even if things that have slumbered beneath his conscious mind for far too long are beginning to stir once more. He clamps the iron control he has regained on them and ignores them as if they will cease to exist just because he pretends so. He refuses to let his heart pump faster at the thought that he is about to lay eyes on the face that drove him out of Mugenjyou. He refuses to even begin pondering the possibility that all that time spent driving Himiko up the wall did not really manage to dispel the unfamiliar emotions that Sakura had caused to come into being.

"Welcome back, Kagami-san," someone hidden behind rows and rows of computers and screens says as he enters Makubex's base. He sees a long bandana and silver hair and realizes that he's holding his breath when he sees Makubex's head appear. The young governor of Lower Town is alone, fingers still flying at breakneck speed doing something that Babylon City would probably hate him for even though his eyes are looking straight at Kagami. He lets it out in a frustrated, inaudible sigh. _Damn it. Not again._

Remembering to breath normally this time, Kagami smiles at Makubex, the mere child who is still here, watching over the people he tries to protect even though it's four in the morning and every other sane person is asleep. He offers no explanation as to where he has been, what he has done or why he has a cut on his cheek and a gash in his thigh, and Makubex does not ask. Lower Town courtesy. Sakura has taught him well.

With a nod, Kagami saunters off, casually throwing up a shield to make himself invisible to Makubex's cameras. It doesn't hide him from Babylon City, where just his body heat is all that is required to trace him, but at least he is hidden from someone. The blood flows steadily in a tiny stream from the scalpel-inflicted wound on his leg, his white slacks marred by that red giveaway, but it isn't a life-threatening wound. As Akabane put it so silkily, just a sample of how much worse it could get if he forgot certain things like the 'no stalking' rule.

He wants to face her. He wants to look her in the eye and be able to laugh at himself for ever having experienced anything so dramatic and sappy the last time he did so. He wants to confront the lady with an angel's face who inspires as much terror in him as a demon with all the unfamiliar emotions she stirs in him and see that she is nothing more than a woman, an inhabitant of Lower Town, a lesser being. He wants to be able to see her face without being dazzled or transported to a garden of ecstasy that he knows cannot exist. He wants to put her hand on his face just to assure himself that whatever he felt the last time was just a pure desire to procreate, nothing more and nothing less, perfectly healthy for a young man like him and absolutely nothing to worry about. They're wants that fill him with reckless ruthlessness, the sort of thing that turns foolish obstinate men into crazy gods that are damn near invincible just because they're so bloody stubborn.

He finds himself walking in the corridor that leads to her room purposefully, as if daring anything to try and stop him. He pushes the door open without even knocking just to show that he doesn't have to ask for her permission, that he's the boss here. He isn't going to shatter and break like he did just because she made him feel…'horny' was the only thing he could finish that sentence with without continuing the great debate of how much of this was hormone and how much of this was real emotion. But then when he walks in and the first thing he sees is her with her back to him, hair loose and clad in an old, faded but charming dressing gown, weaving something soft and warm, it's as if he never went away. That stolen moment of long ago extracts itself from the past and reinserts itself in the present, and now he's just wondering if he can relive it and come out in one piece. The sight of her and the dizzying feeling of chemistry without the test tubes sizzling in him makes him lose his concentration, makes him forget what any woman who is not defenceless would do if they found a man in their room at an unholy hour like this and makes him almost embarrassingly easy to capture. Before he can make another movement, he finds himself bound like a mummy and strung up from the ceiling in something pink and smooth but irritatingly sturdy. One finger pulls expertly at a bit of the shawl and it slides over his face so that she can identify the arrogant punk who dares to sneak into a companionless woman's room at four a.m. Kagami finds himself annoyingly void of any smart-ass comments about her idea of a guest bed and the like, only able to stare at her face and vaguely wonder why is it that just one look at her is enough to transport him to Nirvana or somewhere damn near it. His heart could stop now and he wouldn't notice.

"Kagami-san?" Her lips stay parted in surprise and a slight frown creases her forehead in confusion and bewilderment. Her long hair is still messy from her sudden attacking motions but she hardly seems to notice. This close, he can see the few fine lines that an unstable life of twenty-three years has given her. There is a freckle on her cheekbone, and an almost invisible scar from the days of VOLTS just below it. One of the teeth on her bottom jaw is very slightly out of alignment with the rest of the others, only noticeable because he happens to be hanging in the air above her. She looks shockingly realistic by Babylon City standards, or, if you prefer, an example of all the little physical imperfections that they have been trying to eradicate for decades by experimenting with their gene pool.

_God, she's beautiful. _

But her surprise is brief and with one firm tug of her shawl, Kagami finds himself facedown on the floor. Her eyebrows go up a little at his no longer all-white trousers and the blood on his face, but she does not apologize like most people would for dumping him without a warning on hard cement because he deserved it for walking into her room without even bothering to knock. The fact that it seemed a lot harder than it should have been was probably Babylon City's punishment for that one image flashing in his mind of what might happen if he dared to kiss her. He can see the question on the tip of her tongue, but he knows she won't ask. Not in Lower Town.

Sakura turns around and he accepts the unspoken invitation to sit down. All the recklessness and bravado that propelled him here seem to have abandoned him and now he feels the beginnings of shame for his outrageous conduct. It humbles him that Makubex and Sakura, both of whom he still regards as lower beings though they preside over Lower Town, are more courteous than he, the supposed star pupil of Babylon City. It also strikes him that this is the second apology he owes her, something he would usually resent as someone who never says sorry unless there are no other means to a favourable end, but strangely he only accepts the fact quietly now. She brings him a hot cup of tea, poured from the same pot she was drinking from. He notices that the old rattan chair he sat on the last time is still there, and that it does not complain when she is the one whose weight it bears. Knowing as much as he does about the control Babylon City exercises over Lower Town, Kagami cannot help wondering if that is a sign of displeasure from his superiors.

They sit at the table like ordinary people drinking tea, except that it is an ungodly hour of the morning and he is still bloody thanks to Akabane. The silence is heavy with awkwardness and expectation, laden with unasked questions and masked emotions. Kagami wonders how much longer he can sit here and look at this quiet domestic goddess before he runs away out of fear of everything building in his chest. In the end, Sakura speaks first. Her voice is uncertain and there is a queer sort of look in her eyes, as if she feels that she is doing something wrong by saying anything at all, as she tells him that if he wants, she has one of Juubei's yukatas that she just washed and he can wear that until his clothes are dry. It is an awkward but sincere gesture, the best help she can give him while he remains under her roof. He doesn't dare think she is doing anything but playing her part as hostess. She goes to the back of the room to extract the garment from a stack of clean-smelling clothes and he touches the gash in his thigh. He is almost regretful that he won't have any excuse to make her tend to him like she did the last time, catches himself and is going to berate himself for it when he decides that it won't make a difference anyway. She gives him the yukata with a wet cloth and averts her eyes, turning away politely.

When he is done she takes the bloodstained clothes and goes to the sink at the back of the room, a small smile on her face at the sight of him wrapped up in a robe that looks enormous and hangs off his slender frame. As tiny as it is, it's more electrifying than the lightning bolts of the Thunder Emperor and he can't seem to move because of it. A tiny ache in his chest tells him that no matter how much he denies that there is something different about this lady, he'll always know that he's lying to himself deep down. The feeling that he's not in control anymore comes back with a vengeance as he watches her brown hair slip over her shoulder and frame her face as she bends to place the clothes in the sink; poetry in motion. And this time, it doesn't feel as frightening as it does promising. She catches his glance and her smile slips off her face, not sure if she is being rude. He responds with a little smirk of his own, all he can muster in his entranced state, and the tiny smile returns. She doesn't laugh, as might have been expected if they were both different people. Not yet. It's too soon for either of them to do things like that in front of each other.

She blushes at his unabashed staring, and when she begins to wash out the blood the moment passes. But in the magic that lingers on after that, there is the taste of promise for something bigger and better than all they have now. The first leap of faith has already been taken, and now finishing the rest of this journey that began when he first came into this room doesn't seem like such a horrifying thing to do. It's still uncertain. It's still fraught with difficulties. It's still full of challenges and obstacles. Basically, it's still the riskiest gamble he's ever taken. If he stops to calculate the chances of reaching the end that is so far off he can hardly begin to predict what it might be like, he'd be put in a straitjacket and imprisoned in a rubber room if for even considering forging ahead. But what he can have if he reaches the end, now that he isn't afraid of it anymore, is so tantalizing that the huge risk involved doesn't just seem worth it, but practically negligible.

He is still in unfamiliar territory, but if she is his guide he will willingly walk all of its paths. After all, Kagami was never one to shy away from beautiful places.

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers! Rabid Lola and Atropos' Knife, I'm really glad you both liked it, especially since you two are ranked pretty high in my list of favourite authors. And I have an idea that Kagami's portrayal is greatly influenced by a lot of guys I know (read: perverts in their own rights). Anyway, please review, suggestions welcome.


	3. Paving the Way

Disclaimer: I do not own Get Backers, you know the drill. And yeah, suing me will not glean any profits as I am pretty darn broke.

A/N: Read without high expectations. Due to severe writer's block, this chapter is pretty awful and contrived. But thanks for reading anyway! (Gives away free ice cream.)

In the days that follow, Kagami continues as his usual unobtrusive self. If she notices the way his attentions are subtly shifted to her as she kneels on the hard concrete for hours at a time watching the monitors, or as she walks through the streets of Lower Town unaccompanied, she does not show it. Sometimes he wonders if he is overdoing the subtlety, but usually he dismisses it. After all, subtle is Kagami Kyoji's way of doing things. He is not one for all-out spontaneous confrontations or drawn-out, spur-of-the-moment attacks. When nobody is looking, he lays the way, preparing things so that they tend to turn out in his favour. Then when people finally begin to pay attention to him, he draws his net and gets them right where he wants them. It's sneaky, but it is effective. And Kagami is a firm believer in the principle of ends justifying the means.

Maybe she hasn't noticed it yet, the way he watches over her just as she watches over the people of Lower Town and Makubex and his organization. Maybe the way he looks at her hasn't caught her attention, an open, yearning gaze with desire and fear and desperation and determination all mixed up in his long-lashed eyes in place of his usual couldn't-care-less glance and enigmatic smirk. But it's the little things that bowl you over when they all add up…tiny stones that form an emotional avalanche. Maybe it hasn't hit her yet, but when it does Kagami hasn't quite become modest enough to believe that she won't reciprocate or at least be flattered and flustered. He has never really had to work to get something he wants for himself; after all, he already has a stunning face and the firmest ass in the country. But now that he has decided that Sakura and what she has to offer are things worth going through hell for…what's a little planning, right?

At this particular moment, Sakura is walking back to the base of Makubex's operations. She has just finished speaking to Gen and reassuring his granddaughter, who still has not come to terms with the fact that she is not real. With the caring arms of a mother and the soft voice of an angel, Sakura had said to her during a bitter, unhappy silence:

"It is not what you are that people love; it is who you are. And that is what really matters in the end, isn't it?"

Ren had looked up from her crying; a pair of warm eyes twinkled at her kindly. Kagami didn't even need to bother calculating to know that Ren would never betray Makubex's side again after her brief collaboration with Cruz Masaki. In two minutes, Sakura had her smiling and even giggling again, telling her about all her childhood with Juubei and Kazuki and how they were always getting into trouble, one way or another.

Sakura's statement struck a chord with Kagami. He wondered suddenly about what would have happened if he had been yet another failed experiment; just another mere human that was not beautiful enough, not strong enough, not fast enough, not perfect enough. Would the women who willingly fell into his bed still surrender themselves to him if he woke up in the morning with puffy eyes? Would the eager watchers who followed his every move obsessively still observe him so closely if he couldn't fling a sliver of glass accurately at things without turning to look at them? Would the Sensei have condescended to devoting so much time to him exclusively if his body had not been the exact right proportions to enable maximum speed and strength? Would everyone in Babylon City not turn to look at him if he hadn't been that perfect shade of blond?

It made him realize that maybe, in their quest for physical perfection and almost unreal beauty and hardihood, the people of Babylon City, _his_ people, had forgotten that what was inside was just as important. Would any of them have been as devoted to their lovers as Fuyuki Shido was to his musician girlfriend if their lovers had been blind? Would any of his compatriots be as loyal and as willing to sacrifice as Kakei Juubei for his leader, if that leader looked like a goddamn butterfly? Would any of them be prepared to always be there for a man who harboured a destructive, unreasonable demon in him, the way Midou Ban was for Amano Ginji? It was a humbling experience for someone who had always been in absolute certainty of his kind's superiority. Suddenly, it didn't seem like he was a god above insects; he was just another pea in a huge pan of peas, pretending to be different just to preserve his self-importance when he was actually just like all the others, or worse, too proud to admit it.

Somehow, things like having hair that is never out of place, legs that went on forever, high cheekbones, fighting prowess…it all didn't seem so important anymore. What was the use of reflecting a beautiful, flawless image when all the glass and silver fell away, and there was nothing behind the mirror? There was something more beautiful than a cascade of silken hair; there was something that struck a deeper note than perfectly shaped eyes of brilliant hues. It was different; it was something he and his people had just been too ignorant (whoever would have thought that Kagami would use that word to describe himself and Babylon City) to see. Their nobleness and integrity, their innate _goodness_–it shone through the imperfect casing of their physical bodies, and its light blinded everyone to any flaws that they might have. It didn't matter how full your lips were, or how smooth your skin was. The beauty of what was inside made up for what the outside lacked and gave more. Once you saw it, all these little nitpicky details were just that; details. There was something more to look at than a mere surface, and by God, it was beautiful.

Heaven forbid he ever make the mistake of thinking these people were below him again.

The night sky lights up with a brief flash of thunder. Kagami watches as Sakura looks up and hesitates. At first he thinks she is going to hurry to get back, but she stops to watch the rain clouds gather. When the first drops hit the pavement with a silvery tinkle, she starts again, noticeably not hurrying. At first he simply follows her with his gaze as her hair becomes limp and heavy with rainwater; then he makes up his mind to do the boldest thing he has done yet.

"You don't mind the rain?"

Sakura turns sharply at the sound of his voice, her fingers ready and lightly grasping her shawl just in case he is some upstart gangster that thinks he can prove his manliness by attacking a lone woman. But when she sees him walking up to her, a shimmering dazzle of white in the darkness of the streets, she relaxes enough to let go and even smile in greeting. She politely waits for him to catch up with her before speaking.

"Why should I?"

Her tone is open, questioning; her wish to have a real conversation is unexpected, but welcome. Kagami is glad. He had wondered if she would be stiff and formal with him, uncomfortable with his sole company at night. But he was wrong about her. He usually is.

"Most people don't like being cold and wet."

To illustrate his point, he throws the glass that is usually his weapon up in the air. Some embed themselves in the wall of the building they are walking past while others join those to make a clear, fragile roof that shields them from the rain. The ones at the back detach themselves and join up with those at the front, again and again, so that they have a moving shelter. Sakura looks up and shoots him an amused glance, as if she is wondering if he wants her to compliment him on his cleverness. She doesn't, obviously. Not Lower Town courtesy, but he doesn't mind and she knows that. It's funny how she does, but it doesn't matter. Not much does, as long as she stays with him walking in the dark and waxing philosophical.

_I _am_ a mushy cheesecake!_ _God._

"Don't you think it's good to be cold and wet once in a while? It reminds us not to become proud and egoistic, because no matter how much progress technology makes or how far science goes, nature is still more powerful than we are. One natural disaster could wipe out a civilisation thousands of years old. I think being cold and wet reminds us of this; after all, the rain is a wild, primal force that was here before man and his concrete walls and ceramic tiles and–" here, Sakura actually glances up at him with a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her mouth while coincidentally causing his heart rate to go through the roof, "–glass roofs."

"Being humbled once in a while is probably a good thing," Kagami concedes. From experience, this is. He glances at her and sees her blinking rapidly in a familiar way. "But do you need to make yourself sick just to do that?"

"I'm not sick."

_Not yet, anyway_. Her nose twitches and she sneezes suddenly. Even he is feeling a little chilly. Biting his lip to stop himself from grinning and saying the old "I told you so" line, Kagami scatters more glass in the air, creating an invisible shield for them from the pelting rain and howling wind. Sakura is shivering and trying valiantly not to show it to prove her point, but she stops short of preventing him from doing it. Gallantly, Kagami puts his coat over her shoulders. Clichéd, yes, but he can't help that right now. It seems like the right thing to do.

She looks up and smiles in appreciation and gratitude. It feels good to be able to smile back and know exactly what she means and know that she knows exactly what he means too, as if inaudible words are drifting into their ears or invisible messages are appearing in front of their eyes. Neither of them says a word as they continue to walk back, but they understand each other perfectly. It's a casual, comfortable silence with its own tingling undercurrent of awareness and anticipation of what happens next that says so much more than poetry and song, and means a whole lot more than whispered promises and sweet compliments.

It's not hard to get used to.

He walks her home, enjoying the growing tint of her cheeks and vague fluttering in his chest as they get nearer. But he doesn't want to spoil it; slowly, rushing to the end is never a good idea. And anyway, he doesn't want to. After all, they have time. One step at a time, before another–building relationships with other people is similar to a good fight, and even a delicate dance. Even during near lightning speed battles, opponents are always waiting, always anticipating before they strike. You don't throw punches randomly and hope they hit someone. You parry, you block, you bide your time until you know enough of your opponent to predict what the next move will be–and then you strike. What he is doing now isn't quite so crude or violent, but the risks are just as high. Love is a dance, and if you and your dance partner are moving at different paces you either fall flat on your face or get slapped in the face for being an idiot. Either way, you make a fool out of yourself and lose. Not good.

He wants to take it slow. He wants this to last as long as it can. Not only because it will take longer for Babylon City to notice his new favourite recreational activity and then to take it seriously, but because the more time he has, the better he can lay the way so that it ends the way he wants it to end. Maybe he is being a romantic fool. Maybe he is being an unreasonable worrywart. But if anything goes wrong, he will just be another broken-hearted loser dreaming of something he will never have. Because with this, he only has one shot. There is no rewind/erase button for his life. He isn't in a game where he can restart the level. If he fucks it up, he'll kick himself for the rest of his life, because it's just too bloody bad. He had one chance, and he blew it. Why should anyone sympathise?

That's why he declines when she asks him in. That's why he lets her slip his jacket off her shoulders instead of doing it himself. That's why he settles for smiling and leaving instead of lingering and risking doing something he shouldn't do yet. That's why he doesn't kiss her goodnight, even if she's drawing him like a moth to a flame with as much effort as a magnet uses to attract paperclips.

There isn't really much to see inside the base. There is hardly a sound, except for the steady hum of computers behind the shut doors where Makubex takes the graveyard shift at keeping a lookout and the now barely-audible patter of rain hitting hard rooftops. Straightening his jacket, Kagami walks out again into the open, just in case anyone else is taking advantage of the heavy rain and static from the storm, that are no doubt obscuring some of Makubex's vision from his many cameras. It could be amusing to see who would be mad enough to go out into a full-fledged thunder-and-lightning cloudburst. Besides him, that is.

Kagami scatters enough glass to give him shelter from the elements. He walks along the wet paths in his moving glass room, right in the rain and yet going untouched by every raindrop. But he realizes that, despite his man-made sanctuary, he hasn't completely avoided getting wet. The rainwater, unable to flow away because it has overflowed the drains, goes right through his shoes and socks, soaking his feet. The water splashing up from the ground as he walks is wetting his trouser legs as well. He smiles.

No matter how much progress technology makes or how far science goes, nature is still more powerful than we are.

Even though he is the uncrowned prince of Babylon City and the epitome of everything they want in a person, he can't conquer nature. Kagami is willing to wager that nobody can.

He sends a single mirror sliver flying upwards, and upon contact it shatters the entire glass cage. The rain drenches him to the bone immediately, his hair hanging flat and dripping continuously as he walks on. The thunder roars in the distance, and every few seconds the lightning spears through the sky to relief the darkness briefly. And always, the rain, the rain coming down in sheets and stinging at first, then caressing softly as it slides down his body in a trickle. There is something brutal and honest and real about the storm. It is violent; it is raging as if in anger with the agony of a million souls. And yet, despite its lack of symmetry, its tormented writhing, it is beautiful. Or maybe it is because of it. Even if lightning doesn't strike in a perfect, straight line and even if raindrops are never uniform in size. When it brings life as it rouses seeds to growing and restores wilting flowers, things like that don't matter.

Sakura was like that, in his mind. She didn't have 'assets' like the mediator woman. She no longer had youthful exuberance and cheer like the schoolgirl he had seen at that little cafe during his little trip outside Mugenjyou. She couldn't keep going on sheer willpower like Kudo Himiko, whom he had to admire for being so bloody determined to be professional. She wasn't even as striking and eye-catching as the heir of the Fuuchoin, who wasn't even female. But all that was unimportant, because when it came down to it she possibly had the noblest soul of all, as he had found when he had found information about her in the Archives.

On a dark night lit by diamond stars, he had discovered so many things that he was surprised, and yet not all that shocked, to find. She was the one who had been mother in all but name to no less than four people, all young men as noble as she was now because of her. In the old days, she was the one who took Juubei home when he stayed outdoors too long, gazing into the distance as if hoping to see the tall, slender figure of his best friend coming back to see him. She was the one who comforted Fuuchoin Kazuki and lulled him back to sleep whenever he dreamt of his mother and woke up crying. She was the one who silently watched over Uryuu Toshiki during the days of Fuuga, offering her companionship and listening when he vented his frustration over supposedly being second to Juubei in Kazuki's mind. Now, she kept an eye on Makubex, helping to ease his burden and sticking by him through thick and thin.

She entered schemes she did not approve of not because she was afraid to voice her opinion or because she had no mind of her own to think with, but so that she would be there to help and hopefully to get her friends out of trouble when things went wrong. She did not go out and fight not because she could not help herself, but because she wanted to nurture, not destroy; to heal, not hurt. And she did all this not because of duty, or respect, or loyalty, or high-blown principles, but because she wanted to. And that was that. She did what she did because she wanted to, no other reasons. That was something that commanded his respect.

She challenged the mighty gods of Babylon City for the sake of the people she loved and cared about. He worked for Babylon City because he had always believed they were the stronger side, and possibly because if he hadn't, they would have killed him. In this sense, she is braver than him. Not to mention better.

Kagami admires her, something he usually reserves for people with greater physical strength or beauty than him. She touches something in him that no one else has ever managed to get deep enough to touch. As corny as it sounds, she completes him and at the same time changes him into something different, something _good_ instead of just mean and narrow-minded. She makes him human, a person, a living being that is not just a soulless android with no path but the one its makers set it on.

He sees a vision of her as the wind whips in and out of the narrow streets of Lower Town and flows through the strands of his hair and the very fibres of his clothes. In this vision, her hair is a mess, floating around her like beautiful chaos, and a laugh is on her lips. He smiles in a tender way he never would have thought himself capable of. He cannot tell if it is love, never having loved before, but whatever it is, it's damn potent. And he actually finds himself crossing his fingers, hoping that she'll soon feel the same way about him too.

_You're a fool_, Kagami can imagine the Sensei telling him, shaking his head angrily while his grey-streaked hair shimmers as he does so. _She is just a woman. And not even a woman worthy of spending the night in your bed. You are the living image of perfection. She is nothing but unrefined material, a crude genetic mess._

What he doesn't want to imagine, however, would be his mentor's reaction should he tell him the truth. Because that is what his reply would be.

_No, Sensei. _You_ are the fool._

A/N: Augh, I repeat: I am having a severe case of writer's block. (That's why this chapter is so awful.) But review anyway, if you wish! 


	4. Impulse

Disclaimer: Get Backers doesn't belong to me, I don't own the characters; you know the drill. Nothing in this story goes beyond the rating I set for it unless you decide on using your imagination, because I don't agree on being over-descriptive when it comes to certain…ahem…scenes in the storyline. I wouldn't have included them if they weren't absolutely necessary to the plot I have in mind, and hopefully they've turned out tastefully and not disgusting.

A/N: Sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping for more of Kagami's point of view, but for this chapter I'm going with Sakura for plot development (such as it is), etc. I want to clarify that I am not following manga continuity so this fic is going to be rather AU. (Explanation for this will follow.) Oh, and I'm going to make an effort this time and reply Chapter 3 reviewers at the end of this chapter. Really. (Grin.)

Ash blond hair brushed her cheek, like silk against her skin. Short but smooth, the fine strands seemed to radiate with light in the darkness, like a halo for the young man that practically glowed with vitality and life.

For a moment, she locked gazes with him. She saw everything–things that she has told herself she cannot be sure of, yet things that deep down she knew. His unbelievably beautiful eyes, like a misty, foggy mirror and yet crystal clear, burned into her own–sunlight piercing a diamond. And in that one moment, she saw and knew that she saw.

Fear. Apprehension. Desperation. Hesitation. And a reckless determination to go on despite all that.

She wanted to ask why, why go on, but she already knew the answer. It was because of need. An inexplicable need, one that has no rhyme or reason, but simply exists and turns the heart into a black hole that is never full no matter how many emotions it experiences, and will only be satiated by an answering yearning for tenderness and security, and even then only temporarily. Whether the answer came from him or from her, she did not know.

His lips were so soft and supple that it felt as if her own were chapped and rough. And yet he was firmer, more insistent, demanding and begging for more, while she yielded to him, offering no resistance whatsoever and responding tentatively.

Their kiss lengthened, and their embrace continued. He felt lean and toned beneath his clothes as he leaned into her, strong and masculine despite the beautiful symmetry of his face, his exquisite features, his slenderness.

Mugenjyou was so different from her home in the country.

Kakei Sakura would have never dared to even touch a man she was not related to in so much as a friendly manner if she had been in that traditional compound, with her mother and cousins and other female relatives and their shawls, learning all the basic skills needed for housekeeping, how to make more cloth, how to defend one's young.

But in Mugenjyou, when any day could be your last…do all you can do to make sure you die without regrets. It is never good to go thinking of all the things you should have done or wanted to do, but never did because you were afraid to get it for yourself, or because you kept putting it off, or because it wasn't right. This wasn't right, she knew, but who was to say that it was wrong? Makubex's most trusted subordinate or not, anything could happen to her at any time. She wanted to be able to go through life knowing that she had had everything she wanted, even if it was only for a little while, just in case something happened and she never got through it.

And oddly enough, this was something that she wanted.

He sighed out her name, breaking their kiss. She knew he was undoing the buttons near her collar, because she could feel the cool air against her neck. But she did not stop him, and gasped quietly when his lips settled butterfly-like on her pulse.

A sharp buzz filled the air, and Sakura bolted upright, hand near her throat almost defensively. Her embarrassment was nearly palpable as she realized that she was actually dreaming about Kagami Kyoji. And not any ordinary sort of dream either.

Of all people… She shook her head strongly, as if she could shake him right out of her mind. 

It was true that she found him attractive. Which woman wouldn't, especially if she was as thrown together with a man overflowing with sex appeal as Sakura was? And she rather liked him during the times he was alone with her–less cocky and not so full of himself, more human somehow. Almost unsure of himself and what he was doing, in fact, yet very irresistibly so. And the way he looked at her…it made her cheeks feel hot and pretend she hadn't seen him, but it flattered her very much. Sakura smiled, recalling Kagami in all his blond glory with that irritatingly sexy smile and breathtakingly intense stare, but stopped almost immediately.

He was not like her, Makubex, Juubei or the others. He was from Babylon City. That alone should have turned her against him. He was one of _them_. Pretending to work for Lower Town's boy king, but still very much one of _them_. She had known that from the moment Makubex introduced him to the entire organization. It was nothing Makubex said, nothing Makubex did, but knowing him as well as she did she knew at once that the silver-haired genius did not trust him. And so she did not trust him either.

And yet she was still drawn to him. He had an aura of infinite depth, incalculable intelligence and intangible power. He was dangerous, yes, but that danger was to her the same as the danger an experienced, confident dog-trainer feels when approaching an unknown but apparently docile dog. She knew she should be more wary of him, but he never showed his fangs around her. In fact, judging by the way he seemed to keep getting the crap beaten out of him by retrieval teams and the like, he hardly seemed that threatening. But the air of mystery surrounding him, as powerful but more arresting than Midou Ban's in her mind, would never dissipate no matter how many fights he lost.

She had never thought herself to be one for enigmatic pretty boys, but somehow she still harboured some feeling for him. She did not know what it was, but it made her do things that she normally would not do for others. Like leaving her post to tend to him. Letting him drink tea brewed in the traditional Kakei style, a secret recipe handed down from generation to generation in her family. Allowing him to stay in her quarters in the wee hours of the morning.

_Odd. Very odd._

Sakura went to the heart of Makubex's base, where he monitored the flickering images on the screens as if he was some divine entity watching over Lower Town instead of just an overburdened worried boy who needed to sleep. She smiled affectionately at the sight of him, the same way she used to smile when Juubei purposely went off alone so that Uryuu Toshiki could monopolize Kazuki's attention so long ago. Most children his age did not carry his burden, especially willingly. An amazing boy, this was, even if his ruthlessness in getting what he wanted was rather unsettling. But Sakura knew he would come round in the end. Look at that whole IL business and how it turned out, even without her actively trying to change his mind.

"Good morning, Sakura," Makubex greeted her without averting his eyes from the images.

"Good morning," she replied, resisting the temptation to ask him how much sleep he got the night before because she knew he would simply stare at her and go back to what he was doing without a reply. The dark circles under his eyes gave her the answer she wants anyway. She was about to tell him to go to sleep while she takes over for a while when he suddenly pointed at one of the screens. Kagami was walking on a cobbled back lane, his hands casually stuck in his pockets and his hair picturesquely lifting away from his face as he moved forward with an effortless grace that tends to inspire unavoidable envy and unwilling awe in both men and women.

"He likes you," Makubex stated. The tone of his voice made Sakura turn to him, the maternal side of her instantly pricking up its ears in suspicion. Makubex rarely took notice of the romantic affairs of his followers unless they interfered with their performance at work. After all, he did have Emishi Haruki working for him.

"You don't know that," Sakura said lightly, wondering if he was about to throw a childish tantrum out of jealousy as he occasionally did, the same way a toddler will when his mother is so absorbed in another child that she does not pay attention to him for a while.

"I've calculated the odds, and after the numerous psychology websites and romance fiction sites I've visited I think I can safely say that he does like you."

"Romance fiction?" Sakura smiled a little in amusement, ruffling his hair affectionately. "My, Makubex, I never thought you would grow up to be a Harlequin romance-type…"

The teenager looked rather affronted, throwing her a rather reproachful glance and then returning to his original point. "Something about you seems to have captured his fancy."

"Even if it does, what's the use of it?" Sakura asked in a tone that was just a little too dismissive, as the other half of her brain tried to stop her body from reacting too violently (or delightedly) at the idea that Kagami might actually 'like' her, as Makubex put it. Turning the rotating chair around so that Makubex was no longer facing the monitors, she gently pushed him out of his seat. "You need your sleep. I'll take over from here."

"I'll go. But I want to ask you something first."

"Yes?"

"Would you, if I asked you, accept his favours if he should act on his interest?"

Sakura tried not to look too shocked. _Accept his _favours_? What exactly does he mean by _favours Instead, trying to look calmly at the boy now removing his lengthy bandana, Sakura raised one eyebrow, hoping that sarcasm would kill whatever idea was germinating in his formidable brain. "And why would you ask me to do that? Aren't you afraid that he will further infiltrate our system through me?"

"I am asking you because I trust you, and you are the one he is attracted to. He is from Babylon City. Think of what you could do with him if he falls for you hard enough." Running his fingers through that mass of silver hair in an exhausted gesture, Makubex walked to the door that leads to his room tiredly. Sakura watched his retreating figure, lips parted in indignation and shock. At first she held her tongue, because as a subordinate she felt it was not her place to question her leader's judgement. But there was another side to Sakura as well, the shepherdess that kept her flock together, the mother that would never let any of her children stray. That side came out in full force, and she found herself saying sharply,

"Makubex!"

The fourteen-year-old turned around swiftly, hearing the anger in her voice and sensing the tension emanating from her. Walking towards him with a frown plastered on her brow, she flatly refused to Delilah information out of Kagami. She was disappointed with him for even coming up with an idea as underhanded and despicable as that.

"I am willing to follow you when you make decisions, and I am willing to work to make your dreams for Lower Town a reality. But I will not let you insult my dignity by asking me to play on affections that you do not even know for a fact exist, or lose my sense of honour and morality to trick an enemy." Sakura paused, her shock and annoyance alarmingly present in the way she could not seem to string sentences together properly. She came off as if she was sputtering indignantly, and she knew it all too well. Fortunately, however, Makubex looked a little chastened and embarrassed.

"Forgive me," he whispered, large eyes gazing up at her brown ones. Then he looked away. "I forget sometimes that not everyone is as obsessed or cold-blooded as I am when it comes to bringing down Babylon City. Forgive me." Before Sakura could speak, he turned around again and trudged wearily to the door with his name on it. Just before he went in, however, Makubex's eyes met hers again. "But just think about it, Sakura. We have an advantage, and we must make use of it somehow."

Alone now, Sakura stared at the monitors and saw nothing. _Think about it_. She was thinking about it, and while she found herself thinking of hidden desires that only expressed themselves subconsciously, she knew that she could never manipulate someone the way Makubex wanted her to without loathing herself completely and totally. If she was going to act on a mutual attraction, she would want to keep her personal affairs separate from her work, not have an affair for work. Lost in her thoughts, Sakura hardly noticed her surroundings until something with a mass of brown hair, ridiculous purple glasses and a very big mouth popped up right in front of her face, roaring in a would-be ferocious voice.

"Emishi!" Sakura jumped, barely stopping her reflexes from wrapping his head up in pink cloth. Heart still racing from the unexpected surprise, she settled back down in front of the monitors and turned to the Joker. "What is it?"

"You looked so serious just now, I thought someone just died. I had to do _some_thing." The whip wielder pulled another funny face before settling for just grinning boyishly at her.

"Yes, give me a heart attack. But what do you want, why aren't you patrolling outside?" Sakura tried to sound stern, being the one in charge when Makubex finally took a break, but she could not help smiling a little at Emishi's goofiness that was never really funny in the true sense of the word, but so silly that it wound up being comical anyway. However, business was business, even to the Fresh Blood Joker. (Well, most of the time anyway…) Looking a little more serious, he spoke again.

"One of the residents came running to me earlier, saying the area of Lower Town nearest to the Belt Line was being attacked. He said there were about twenty of them, and they were moving down towards the more densely populated areas. I tried to send a message to the base asking for back-up, but nobody answered, so I ran here to see if anything was wrong." Emishi tilted his head sideways and opens his eyes wide, scanning Sakura's face earnestly as if trying to read it. "Nothing is wrong, is it?"

Sakura did not want to answer. Instead, busying herself with the computers, she paged Kagami and several other low-ranking members of Makubex's hierarchy. A pop-up on the computer screen told her that delivery of the message to Kagami had failed. _He must be out of range_._ This is not good_. Recalling that Juubei had gone off to the hot springs with Kazuki and that Fudou was nowhere to be found after the IL fiasco, Sakura got up, her shawl held ready. "Let's go, before it's too late."

"You're coming along?" Emishi's eyes opened even wider than anyone had ever thought possible before.

"There's no one else, Juubei is with Kazuki and I can't get Kagami. I've paged the people that I could get, but they aren't very experienced and two of them are new. Show me where the place is."

By the time they reached the parts of Lower Town that were under attack, the five that Sakura managed to reach were already there. Some of them looked frightened, and one was shaking so badly that it was surprising she had not fallen down yet. _Kanan_, she suddenly remembered the girl's name, a new member who had never been in a skirmish before. But two of them looked alert and anticipative, eager for battle. Taking command, Sakura told two of the frightened girls to help her evacuate the residents that had not already run away screaming while Emishi and the others held off the Belt Line invaders for as long as possible.

"Will you be all right with just three people?" Sakura asked before Emishi went. He glanced at the three frightened ones, and seemed rather pleased that the one who was supposed to go with him had a determined look in his eyes even though he was still pale. He gave Sakura the benefit of his thousand-watt smile.

"I'd be all right with just you, but I'll take what I can get," Emishi winked roguishly before heading off with the trio. Sakura chalked it up as Emishi's 2653rd Failed Attempt at Flirting, shaking her head with a brief smile. Turning to the two girls left with her, Sakura snapped back to seriousness. "We need to get these people out of here."

After designating a half-hidden house in a narrow lane as a safe house and leaving the less scared of the girls to guard it, Sakura and her one helper began searching the mainly empty houses for young children, old folks, disabled people or injured victims that had not been able to leave when the screams from the higher parts of Lower Town had alerted everyone else to the attack. They found two terrified children that had run inside a house to hide, and then one old woman who was recovering from a stroke and could not walk. Sending Kanan off to the safe house with the woman and the two young siblings, Sakura continued the search with more urgency now. The sounds of fighting were drawing closer now, and she could hear the screams as the unlucky ones who had not been able to flee were cut down mercilessly.

Going into a house, Sakura heard someone crying. Curled up in a corner of the kitchen, she found a toddler, a little boy with short black hair sobbing his eyes out. He tried to back away from Sakura at first, but after a little persuading she managed to get him to let her carry him. She could even hear Emishi's frustrated shouts now, telling someone in his group to watch her back and another to fight like he meant it because it was life or death now. _Where on earth is Kagami when you need him?_ She frowned angrily as she ran towards the safe house, but she knew that it was possible that the pager had just malfunctioned. They weren't always dependable, she knew, hers seemed to have mood swings and did not work every few days. She should have told Makubex to get newer ones…a scream made her lose concentration for a moment and she stumbled, tripping over some rubbish that had spilt onto the streets earlier when people had stampeded in their haste to get away. By twisting and landing on her back, she was able to stop herself from squashing the actively wailing toddler, but it _hurt_. Unable to move for a split-second, she could hear a man screaming someone's name, and then Emishi shouting at him to concentrate on defending himself before getting cut off mid-sentence. Another man yelled, she didn't know what, only that he sounded worried. But she did realize that if he was yelling at Emishi, Emishi wasn't responding…

That silence from Emishi spurred her into action, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and her throbbing spine. She didn't know if he had suddenly stopped talking because he needed his full concentration for fighting or because of something worse…running even faster now, Sakura bent all her will on reaching the safe house so she could leave the boy with Kanan and the other girl before going to find Emishi and his party. She had known Emishi since the days of VOLTS, and even though he was rather annoying sometimes he was one of the mainstays of her life. He was a constant, a given in her existence, always there to flirt badly, to try to be funny, to be fearless, the same way Juubei was a reassuring presence in the way that all brothers are, the same way Makubex was the first person she saw in the morning when she went to the room with the monitors. She couldn't imagine going through a day without hearing one of his bad jokes. _Damn Joker, what's happened to him?_ She was worried.

Finally, her lungs burning, she reached the safe house. Barely able to gasp out instructions to Kanan to go and find Kagami and tell him to get there immediately, and then to the other girl to make sure the rescued stayed very quiet if the Belt Line attackers came, Sakura took off again at full speed. She couldn't breathe properly anymore and her legs were starting to feel like they would give out on her any minute now, but she couldn't afford to stop to catch her breath. Impatiently loosening her collar and ripping it when she tugged too hard, she unwound the shawl from around her forehead and body, holding it ready. She reached the battleground just in time to see the frightened-looking man get smashed against a wall as one of the hideous monsters swiped him with a disproportionately muscular arm. There were eight left, and all of Emishi's party were scattered here and there, unconscious, comatose or…_No, don't you even dare think that!_

The Kakei Cloth Technique was meant to be purely defensive, for the Kakei women to defend themselves and their children by incapacitating enemies long enough for them to escape, and usually that worked well enough for Sakura. But this was different. She had to stop them, or they would continue their rampage once they got free of her cloth traps. During the days of Fuuga, Kazuki had taught her how she could use her cloth in ways similar to the Fuuchoin thread manoeuvres. She hadn't used those moves in a long time. Moves not to disable, but to maim, to kill…

Glancing at the girl that had bravely gone with Emishi earlier, her neck now at an improbable angle as she lay next to a bloodstained wall, Sakura tensed. Two of them rushed at her…she didn't know what the other six were doing, but it sounded like they were having fun pulling the unconscious body of one of _her_ people to pieces. Using the shawl, she wrapped one up first before letting the shawl loop around the neck of the other. Casting the rest of the shawl around a wooden pole that supported a roof in front of a house, she pulled the material sharply and was rewarded with a very loud crack as he flew forwards headfirst, hitting himself hard on the pole and then snapping his neck when his body was thrown forward, but with the cloth tightening to a strangle-hold on his throat. She pulled loose the wrappings on the other one, who was struggling like a mummy back to life, just enough for the shawl to settle around his neck before she strung him up and left him to hang to death from the upper story of a house. Gathering the rest of her shawl, Sakura ran towards the group of Belt Line attackers that were practically tearing off the man's arm. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a scream when she realized that they had dug out both his eyes…that was the gelatinous mess on the ground…his _eyes_…

Numb with horror, she couldn't move, just staring at the ruined seeing organs now squashed to jelly on a filthy, blood-soaked road. It had been so long since she had been directly involved in a street-fight that she completely forgot how vulnerable she was, immobile and not looking on her enemies. But then she heard a shuddering, agonised moan from the man they were picking on before he started screaming, clawing at his face and his hollow eye sockets with his one good hand. _Oh God…he _woke up_…he woke up and he can't see and he can't feel his eyes in his face anymore…_

"Help me!" the man screamed. Sakura jerked herself out of her stupor. Her shawl wrapped itself around the two running towards her and she pulled the ends in different directions before releasing one, lifting them off the ground as the shawl slid off them so fast that she could hear the burns it left on their skin. The two bodies hurled upwards into the air and landed with a sickening thud of bone shattering upon contact with the gravel. Casting the pink material forward again, she wrapped the wretched man up and snatched him out of their hands.

"It's me, I have you, hold still," she called out when he made to struggle. At the sound of a familiar voice, the man ceased immediately.

She let him roll out of the shawl's embrace so that he stopped next to a still Emishi, and then repeated the process with the other man and the girl so that she could stand between them and the Belt Line crowd. The remaining four were looking at her warily now, moving slowly and deliberately as they watched her. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest, which was still burning from all the vigorous actions she had been performing after being inactive for so long. Her shoulder and back were still throbbing from her fall, and again her legs felt horribly unsteady as she heard the frightened sobs of the man who had lost his eyes. She could feel the sweat streaming down her forehead, a few beads flowing into her eyes and making her blink.

At that very moment, they all charged. Having realized that she could not defend herself from all of them at once, they attacked simultaneously. Sakura managed to manipulate the shawl enough so that it caught two of them and changed their direction in mid-lunge, making them crash into each other, but she couldn't do anything about the other two. One grabbed hold of her viciously, but the other was simply trying to ram into her and make her fall, so it knocked her out of the first's grasp. She hit the ground on her wounded shoulder and cried out when the back of her skull made contact with the ground, sliding across the rough tar of the road and stopping only when she hit the legs of the people she was trying to defend. Her back was wet with blood from where her skin had been torn by the gravel. Her head span and her vision blurred with stars, making it hard for her to see anything at all. She could hear devastatingly well, however, and what she heard was two heavy treads as they approached her. Trembling violently, she felt tears of fear starting in her eyes through the spots in front of them.

It can't end like this…I've too much to do! There're so many things I have to finish, to start, to know! 

Pushing herself up and onto her feet, Sakura blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of those damn stars dancing in front of her eyes. The two she had only managed to stall earlier had got up again and once more she was faced with four opponents. She still had her trump card, although with her depleted strength and lagging limbs she didn't know if she could pull it off. A piteous whimper from the man whose eyes had been ripped out made her determined to try, however.

Throwing the shawl in many different directions and entangling all four of them in it, she knotted them up tightly and then pulled. She had done it before, and what was supposed to happen was that the cloth, when pulled swiftly, would cause a lot of friction and result in rope burn. Only she had found a way in the time of Fuuga to wind the cloth in such a way that multiple burns appeared in the same place for each of her opponents as she pulled the cloth loose. If she did it fast enough, she could set them on fire while throwing them all high up in the air. Then they would come crashing down to earth and nothing living could survive the impact, Belt Line citizen or not.

Exhausted and hurting everywhere, she barely managed it. She did cause a lot of burns, but she didn't have the strength or speed to perform the last part of the move. All she got for her efforts were four very pissed off, smarting attackers. Sakura fell again, her legs finally collapsing under her, but she couldn't be on her knees when she died. All the dignified pride and quiet nobility that became the Kakei clan protested against it, and somehow she got up again shakily. The nearest of her attackers lashed out at her brutally, hitting her backhanded across the face. But when she hit the ground, she heard four other collapsing bodies as well.

_It's about time_, she thought, but before she could finally pass out knowing that things would be taken care of someone quickly lifted her upper body up.

"Sakura? Sakura, wake up!"

"I _am_ awake," she mumbled, vaguely irritated. Then she remembered the unmoving Emishi, the man whose eyes were gone, the girl with the twisted neck, that other man whom she never even got to look at the whole time, and forced her eyes open. She wasn't in a bad enough condition to be allowed to enjoy dreamland just yet. Kagami was propping her up, aghast at how messed up she was and checking to see if she had broken or twisted or sprained anything. Kanan, who had apparently followed Kagami there, was crying and throwing up alternately somewhere she couldn't see.

"We need to get them medical attention," Sakura said, getting to her feet again with his help. Kagami followed her as she hobbled over to check on the four. The girl was beyond help, and one of the men would never see again, but the unconscious man seemed to be fine except for a very large bump on the back of his head. Emishi looked like hell, but it seemed that he would live to tell another lousy joke. She smiled at that thought. As the only conscious one of the men couldn't walk, Sakura once again wound all of them up in the shawl and looked at Kanan, intending to ask for her help in pulling them to safety. The girl, however, didn't seem to be in much better condition than Sakura herself. She looked like she was going to faint. Sakura couldn't blame her…she remembered the first fight she had been in all too well.

"I'll take them," Kagami proffered quietly, holding out a hand. She turned and found him looking straight at her, a sincere offer to help reflected in his pretty eyes. As they always do in cheesy romance flicks, everything seemed to go in slow motion as Sakura handed him the ends of the shawl, their eyes still locked onto each other. His fingers brushed hers lightly, leaving them tingling, and hovered there as long as propriety would allow. Then he broke eye contact, beginning to drag the three injured warriors to Gen the pharmacist.

Sakura watched him go, his tall white figure hardly seeming to strain at all despite the weight he was pulling with him. Then she turned to Kanan, who was still crying, her hand over her mouth as if to stop herself from vomiting again as she looked on the carnage. Words were of no comfort during times like these. Sakura let her huddle there for a while, sobbing, and then she put the arm that wasn't connected to her injured shoulder around the other girl.

"Come on," she said quietly. But she didn't push. She let Kanan stay where she was until she took in a deep, shuddering breath, nodded to signal that she was better now and then start walking away. As they left, Sakura looked back one last time. She could see blood on the place where she had slid across the tar, her blood. She had nearly died there.

That thought stuck to her mind for the rest of the day. It made everything seem a little removed, as if she was detached from the rest of the world. When Makubex tried to contact her on her pager, she found herself purposely not answering because she knew he would ask her how she was, and the truth was that she didn't want to talk about it at all, something she knew he wouldn't understand. She went through the whole day as if in a daze, saying nothing when Gen and his granddaughter treated her and gave her painkillers. She didn't need them. The thought of how close she had come to the end was enough to numb everything to a low, persistent throb of pain. She sat on a chair facing all the beds, where the three men were all unconscious or sedated, staring at their unmoving figures for hours. When she left at dusk, none of them had woken up.

Sakura walked back to the base like a woman in a dream, not paying attention to others and not watching where she was going, except that it was in the right direction. She went to see Makubex first, because no matter how numb she felt she knew how hurt he would be if she simply ignored him for so long. He was again sitting in front of the monitors, but when she entered he jumped up and went to her eagerly. He looked shocked when he saw the angry bruise where she had been backhanded, and seemed horrified when he saw that her injuries were not confined to just her face.

"I'll be fine," Sakura smiled weakly before he could say anything. His eyes were still as wide as saucers, taking in her tattered condition. She touched his face, still baby-smooth, and smiled again. "Don't worry about me…and please, don't watch me on the monitors. I can walk back to my quarters without dying. Watch the cameras at the areas that were attacked earlier, some people may take this opportunity to burgle empty homes or the Belt Line people may return."

"I know," Makubex said, but there was no resentment in his voice at her telling him what he already knew as there sometimes was. He was still staring at her woebegone figure, dismayed that his cherry blossom's petals were bruised and torn. "I will."

She gave him one last smile and then left, walking back to her quarters. She knew he wasn't watching her, because Makubex saying he knows means that he knows what you want him to do, but he won't, while Makubex saying he will means that he will do what you told him to. He was a nice child that way. In the corridor, leaning against the wall, was a familiar white figure.

"How are you? I never got the chance to ask," Kagami said in a would-be casual voice. But he knew as well as she did that his voice was shaking a little, and dropped the pretence of indifference. Approaching her but stopping short before her got too near, as if he wanted to stand closer but wasn't sure if she would let him, he looked her over worriedly. "Are you still in pain?"

Sakura smiled a little at the question, which was honestly rather silly. "What does it look like?"

Kagami unbent enough to grin at her tired humour. She found herself staring into his eyes again and remembered the dream she had that very morning. It felt like ages ago when she had dreamt it. Maybe it was just the numbness. That made her think again of how she had almost died, and that if it wasn't for the young man standing in front of her she would be with that girl with the broken neck, still out there in the streets like discarded trash now that her soul was no longer in that beaten body.

Usually, there was plenty of time for finding men and settling down with them and only then going through the rites of love, as Sakura's mother had always said. But this wasn't 'usual'. This was Mugenjyou; an entirely different ball game. She didn't have plenty of time, as today's events illustrated pretty well. She reached out with one hand and caught the collar of his purple shirt, taking him by surprise. The look of astonishment hadn't quite faded from his face when she pulled him down to kiss him almost violently, her sudden movement aggravating the sore part of her face.

"Come inside," she murmured, a little annoyed at how she sounded so breathless. She blushed at what she was saying, but said it anyway. "I haven't…thanked you yet."

Sakura wouldn't have been far off the mark if she had said that Kagami looked surprised. He was _stunned_. Speechless for a few seconds, he carefully cupped her cheek again and kissed her very gently, mindful of the bruise on one side of her face. "Not tonight," he said in a low voice, which was oddly hoarse. "You're injured."

Without taking her eyes off him, Sakura opened the door and stepped inside. She didn't know what to say to his unexpected consideration; she'd been in better shape before. But she didn't want to put things off anymore, not after everything that had happened in just one morning. She reached out and grazed his fingers with hers, like they had earlier. He tightened his grip on her fingers briefly, and then let go again. He stepped closer, but he only kissed her lightly on the forehead before turning away, still speaking hoarsely. "Sleep well."

"Wait!" Damn, she sounded desperate. Catching his arm before he could leave, she pulled him back to her. This close, she almost reached his shoulder. Unable to resist, she touched the side of his unbelievably soft face with her fingers. She looked up at him and saw the hesitation and desperation he was torn between, and decided for him, pulling him in. "Be gentle."

A/N: (Evil laughter) Now for the extended author's note which you don't really need to read…once again, I really didn't want to imply premarital sex in this fic, me being the stodgy conservative that I am, but it's unfortunately unavoidable in the interests of the storyline. (Yes, go me, what I intended to be a one-shot is becoming a real story!) And thank you reviewers who were kind enough to be encouraging and constructive concerning the last chapter, which I honestly do not think was up to par. I hope the standard improved with this chapter, so please leave a review if you think so or otherwise! And as promised, replies to my extremely nice reviewers…

**Trinity:** Sorry you didn't like chapter three as much as the other two…I hope this chapter made a good impression on you. Thanks for consistently reviewing, by the way.

**Saruwatari Kaito: **I will keep on writing, don't worry. It's impossible to stop me, much to the dismay of my teachers and parents. (Wink.)

**TheOriginal: **Haha, nice pun. Let's be nice to Kagami shall we…or at least I will be since I don't know what's going on in the manga that's making everyone not like him…

**Atropos' Knife: **I blush at thy compliments, really. (Grin.) I'm going to admit that the reason I'm using Kagami as my main character is because he's hardly explored in the anime, so I'm free to do a lot of stuff with him without being accused of making him OOC. (Evil, no? Teehee. Besides, I think he has the potential to be a very complex character.) And I've heard something about Ginji's father being someone in Babylon City, but because I don't read the manga and have only watched some of the anime I'm putting this story under 'alternate universe' instead of changing the plot I had in mind to follow a canon that I haven't read and risk being extremely inaccurate. So bear with my take on what Mugenjyou really is and how Kagami figures in it, I hope you'll like my idea. Thanks for being so encouraging!

**Rabid Lola:** Yep, your compliments make me blush too. I must look like a lobster by now. Glad you didn't have a problem with chapter three, and thanks for reviewing this story every chapter! You and Atropos' Knife are two of my favourite authors, so it's really heartening to see that you both like my work as well. (Faints of happiness.)

**Kasumi: **Glad you liked this pairing. It's growing on me too. (Wink.)


End file.
